When a rocker brake assembly of an engine brake is deactivated during positive power, the rocker brake assembly is free to rotate on the rocker shaft. Because the rocker brake assembly is free to rotate, it may come into contact with the exhaust valves and the cam assembly. This contact may cause damage to the rocker brake assembly and the valves.
One attempt to solve this problem was developed by Jacobs Vehicle Systems and is depicted in FIG. 5. The rocker brake assembly 30 includes a wire form spring assembly 31 activating between the rocker arm 32 and the rocker shaft 33. The spring assembly 31 urges the rocker arm 32 to a neutral position when the rocker brake assembly 30 is deactivated. The spring assembly 31, however, may wear prematurely which may cause undue wear on the brake housing. If this occurs then the spring assembly 31 does not perform its primary function of maintaining the brake assembly 30 in a neutral position.